Centrifugal liquid-separator.



No.- 744,938. PATENTED Nov. 24-, 1903. G. RENNERFELT.

CENTRIFUGAL LIQUID SEPARATOR. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 13, 19031 N0 MODEL.

I V 4V ATTORNEY lUNrrn I STATES Patented November 24, 1903.

GUSTAF RENNERFELT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO KOCHKUM, JR., & OI'ILSSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A FIRM.

CENTRIFUGAL LIQUID SEPARATUR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 744,938, dated November 24:, 1903. Application filed January 13, 1903. Serial No. 138,938. (No model.)

and it has for its object to so construct and arrange the operative parts of such a separator that the applied power for driving the same may be materially decreased, thereby giving an increased capacity for a given amount of applied power.

My improvement, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, represents a creamseparator.

Figure 1 is a sectional view taken through the body of the bowl of a centrifugal creamseparator in two planes at right angles to each other and illustrated by the section-lines Z Z, Fig. 2, and V V, Fig. 4. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken through Fig. 1 on the line X X, and Fig. 3 is a similar transverse sectional view taken through Fig. 1 on the line Y Y. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the neck portion of the separator with the clamping-nut, which clamps the cover to the body of the bowl, removed.

Upon examining the construction of centrifugal liquid-separators now in general use one familiar with modern methods of machine designing must be impressed by the peculiar fact that the direction of rotation of such machines and the size and number of the nozzles provided for the outflow of the skim-milk therefrom are immaterial to a certain extent. High speed in cream-separators is an advantage, because it causes a more efiective separation of the liquids and also because it gives a greater capacity to a machine of given size. The liquid to be discharged from the bowl rotates, of course, with the same speed as the bowl, and when it escapes through a nozzle which is not wholly filled said liquid will have the same velocity as the peripheral speed of the nozzle and also in the same tangential direction. This is due to the inertia of the liquid. The velocity of the liquid represents energy which of course must be supplied by the driving power, and since this energy is proportional to the square of the velocity it is easily realized that with a fixed quantity of liquid the speed necessary for good skimming will perhaps not be attained in many cases where the driving power is limited. With creamseparators the driving power is often limited, since most of them are designed to be hand-driven.

With my improved machine I utilize hydrostatic pressure as the liquid issues from the nozzles in such manner that it will facilitate driving the bowl as it rotates. In other words, I utilize this pressurein the same manner that it is utilized in driving turbines of the wellknown reactive type and known generically under the name of the Barkers mill or Tourniqnet-that is to say, I so locate the skim-milk nozzles that they will discharge the liquid in a tangential direction opposite to the direction of the rotation of the bowl, and I further arrange them so that the velocity of the skim-milk in such tangential direction will be as great as is practically possible. With such an arrangement when the milk is forced outward through the nozzles it will by its reactive action tend to drive the bowl in the same direction as that due to the applied power and will therefore assist or aid said power. With my improvement I minimize the amount of energy required to drive the machine by reducing as far as is practically possible the velocity of the escaping skimmilk in the direction of rotation of the bowl, and with this understanding of its operation it becomes a simple matter to calculate the actual saving in power which follows from the use of my improvement.

Referring now to the drawings in detail for a full and clear understanding of my invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to construct and'use the same, 1 represents the bowl, 2 the lid, 3 the neck of the lid, and 4 the feeding-tube, 5 being the clampingnut for securing the lid to the bowl, and 6 6 openings or holes from the feeding-tube to the interior of the bowl, all of the parts so far described being well known in the art.

m m are the skim-milk pipes, provided with enlarged cups ff at their inner ends and se cured to the inner and under side of the lid in any preferred manner.

a a are the nozzles, having their mouths b contracted, so that the quantity of the liquid which they are called upon to discharge cannot escape unless a certain velocity be imparted to the liquid. This velocity is derived from the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid contained in the nozzle between the entrance 0 and the mouth I). The cupsfare open at their inner ends, so that the pipes m may be readily cleansed by suitable brushes.

(1 dare overflow-openings at the upper edges of the cupsf, their function being to take care of the overflow in the event of the. machine being driven at abnormal speeds or the conditions of operation such that the nozzles a will not carry away all of the skim-milk which is forced upward into the cups ff. These openings 61 d are'located somewhat nearer to the axis of rotation of the bowl than are the entrances c c to the nozzles a a, as is indicated by the cone-shaped form of the neck. It is necessary and well understood by those familiar with the art that the inner zone of the skim-milk when themachine is in operation shall always be" kept at a constant distance from the axis of rotation; otherwise the cream or lighter liquid forced out of the machine will vary in thicknessthat is to say, it will at different times contain a different amount of fat.

h h are cream-slots for the outflow of the cream, said slots being provided with the usual regulating-screws, as shown.

9 g denote an edge in close proximity to the cream-slots h h, said edge being closer to the outer edges of the cream-slots than is usual in existing machines where the cream adheres to the outer edge 7t; of the neck.

The operation is as follows: The regulating-screws having been set in the cream-slots h h to the desired points, as is customary in such'machines, the milk to be treated is fed continuously through the feeding-tube 4 and openings 6 6 to the bowl 1, and said bowl having been first set in rotation by the source of applied power (not shown) the denser milk passes outward and upward in the usual manner in the direction of the arrows through the pipes m m into the cups ff, thence outward through the entrances c ointo the nozzles a a, filling said nozzles, so that the skim-milk contained therein, acted on by hydrostatic pressure, is caused to flow outward in a direction the opposite of that of the rotation of the bowl, said direction being tangential. A diagrammatic illustration of this efiect is found in Fig. 2 of the drawings, where the curved arrows indicate the direction of rotation of the bowl,the arrows p, at the months I) b of the nozzles, the velocity and direction of the flow of the milk due to hydrostatic pressure, and the arrows r, on the opposite sides thereof, the velocity and direction in which the milk tends normally to flow in existing types of centrifugal separators with ordinary holes or openings,

the result being that the skim-milk leaves the nozzles with a velocity equal to the diflerence of these two velocities.

By reason of the inclined inner faces of the neck 3 and cupsffthe escaping skim-milk will not ordinarily rise above the upper edges of the entrances c c of the nozzles a a; but should it do so, owing either to a decrease in the speed of rotation or to an increase in the supply of liquid through the tube 4, the surplus skim-milk will pass through the openings d d, located closer to the center than the nozzles a a, the action in this particular being not different from the like action of wellknown .forms of centrifugal separators, the openingsd d being, as above indicated, solely for the purpose of taking care of the overflow from the cups ff when the machine is driven too slowly or the supply of milk improperly increased.

It will be understood that the velocity of the cream upon leaving the bowl could by a similar nozzle also be minimized, as well as the velocity of the skim-milk. The gain in power, however, would not be so great, since the amount of cream is so much smaller than the amount of skim-milk. The nozzle for the cream would also be correspondingly smaller and more difficult to clean. In practice it may be preferable to let the cream escape in the ordinary manner. I, however, in such case provide the edge 9 in close proximity to the slot h, rather than to allow the cream to adhere to the edge 7c,as is customary.

I do not limit my invention to the specific details of construction hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. I believe it is broadly new with me to decrease the amount of applied power in a centrifugal separator by utilizing the outflow of the liquids to be separated, either or both, in such manner as to aid the applied power by reason of its reactive action as it leaves the machine, and my claims are generic as to this particular.

I believe it is also broadly new with me to combine in a centrifugal liquid-separator nozzles so disposed that the outflow of the liquid acts to aid in the propulsion of the machine, with overflow outlets or openings designed to take care of any excessive supply of the liquid either by reason of increased supply of the material to be acted upon or by decreased angular velocity given to the machine, and my claims in this particular are designed to be of such scopeas to include all equivalent devices for effecting such result.

Although I have illustrated my invention as especially applicable to cream-separators, I do not limit it to such uses, as the same is of such scope that it may be used in connection with centrifugal liquid-separators generally, and my claims hereinafter made are designed to include all such uses.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A centrifugal liquid separator having one or more nozzles carried by the bowl of the machine and tangentially arranged with relation to said bowl.

2. A centrifugal liquid-separator having one or more nozzles tangentially arranged with relation to the bowl of the machine and operatively connected with cups or chambers adapted to hold the liquid therein in such manner as to utilize the hydrostatic pressure due to the rotation of the bowl.

3. A centrifugal liquid-separator having one or more nozzles carried by the bowl of the machine and tangentially arranged with relation to said bowl; in combination with one or more overflow-openings.

4. In a cream-separator a skim-milk escape consisting of a pipe open at both ends, the inner end of said pipe communicating with two outlets one of which is adapted to be filled by the escaping'skim-milk.

5. In a cream-separator a skim-milk escape consisting of a tube extending from near the periphery of the bowl toward the center thereof, the inner end of said tube being provided with two openings one of which is nearer to the axis of rotation of the bowl than the other.

6. In a liquid-separator an edge in close proximity to the escape for the lighter liquid for the purpose of minimizing the velocity of said liquid when leaving the bowl.

7. In a centrifugal liquid-separator an outlet from the bowl, consisting of a contracted nozzle carried thereby and directed substantially tangentially opposite to the direction of rotation of the bowl.

8. In a centrifugal liquid-separator an outlet from the bowl consisting of an overflowopening; in combination with a contracted nozzle carried by the bowl and directed tangentially opposite to the direction of rotation thereof.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

GUSTA-F RENNERFELT.

Witnesses:

. O. J KINTNER,

M. F. KEATING. 

